Thursday, May 7, 2015

-- Crews are on the scene at Rocky Butte Park near Portland, Oregon, where a rock climber suffered a fatal fall Friday afternoon. Details of the accident remain unclear, but crews responded to the area around 4:30 p.m. The climber, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. To read more, click here.

--A National Park Service report shows that nearly 770,000 people visited the North Cascades National Park Service Complex last year, spending more than $33.5 million in nearby communities. To read more, click here.

--Jens Holsten and Vern Nelson Jr. recently climbed a new route on the north face of Argonaut Peak in Washington’s Stuart Range. The pair dedicated their line to the memory of Chad Kellogg, a prolific climber who was killed in Patagonia last year. To read more, click here and here.

Desert Southwest:

--The state of Utah would like to reclaim Bears Ears and surrounding public lands, including places like Indian Creek, for “energy exploration,” declaring livestock grazing and “energy and mineral development” to be the “highest and best use” for the area. To learn how to fight this, click here. To see a video about this, click below. To sign a petition to protect this area, click here.

--On Thursday, May 7th the Las Vegas Climber's Liaison Council in partnership with BeyondVegas and Desert Rock Sports will be hosting Jeremy Collins, artist, climber, and adventurer, at the Clark County Library theater on 1401 E. Flamingo. This event is a multi-media evening with the showing of Jeremy's film "Drawn" and he will be doing a book signing for his newly released, fully- illustrated book Drawn: The Art of Ascent. There will also be a raffle with some great prizes and Jeremy will likely be creating some live art! To read more, click here.

Alaska:--American Alpine Institute's first expedition team of 2015 is steadily making its way up Denali. As of yesterday they were already at Camp 1. Follow their progress and cheer them on at our Dispatch Blog here.

--In Anchorage, telltale signs of spring’s arrival include budding willows and returning geese. In Nenana, locals watch for the tilting tripod in the annual Ice Classic. In Talkeetna, this winter’s end was heralded by the arrival of 25,000-pound U.S. Army Chinook helicopters, which help the National Park Service set up the camps used by rangers patrolling Mount McKinley and other high peaks in the Alaska Range. To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:
--Mammut Pro Team athlete Dani Arnold just completed the north face of the Eiger in 1 hour and 46 minutes, a new speed record. To see a video of the ascent, click below. To read more, click here.

--The UIAA has posted a blog on this year's best climbing films, with many of the films embedded. To check it out, click here.

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